Department of Education to roll out simpler forms for college financial aid

WASHINGTON — Applying for financial aid for college is becoming a simpler process.

When enrollment for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, opens later this month, students will fill out a much shorter form than they have in years past.

“In some cases, students will go from having to answer over a hundred questions to fewer than twenty,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in a virtual news conference. Murray was among the federal lawmakers who led the charge for the bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act that was signed into law in 2020.

The new FAFSA will also be streamlined to help families fill out tax-related questions. Applicants will be required to consent to a direct data exchange, which will give the Internal Revenue Service permission to provide tax information that families often had trouble tracking down.

“We’ve heard a lot of feedback and saw data that FAFSA itself was a barrier to attending school,” said Kim Cook, CEO of the National College Attainment Network. “There were a lot of terms on there that weren’t clear to students and families who are completing the form.”

It’s taken three years for the Department of Education to enact the changes required by the FAFSA Simplification Act. The department announced the new FAFSA form will be available online by December 31, two months later than usual. That could mean students face a delay in learning what type of aid colleges will offer them for the 2024-2025 school year.

“It is going to be a compressed timeline,” said Cook, whose organization’s mission is to support students as they enroll and complete college. She says every high school senior or current college student should take time to fill it out. “We encourage everyone to complete the form and see where they land. Even if you’re not eligible for aid in the form of a grant, it is also the form you complete to apply for federal student loans.”

Eligibility was expanded under the FAFSA Simplification Act. According to the Department of Education, the changes will help an additional 610,000 students receive Pell Grants and 1.5 million more students access the maximum Pell Grant nationwide. Pell Grants are the federal government’s need-based grant program, which unlike loans, do not need to be paid back.

“This is a big step forward,” said Senator Murray. “We have to be opening the doors to higher education as wide as we can.”

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